A multi‐scale statistical approach to assess the effects of connectivity of road and stream networks on geomorphic channel condition

Roads in rural, upland landscapes are important sources of runoff and sediment to waterways. The downstream effects of these sources should be related to the connectivity of roads to receiving waters. Recent studies have explored this idea, but only simple metrics have been used to characterize connectivity and few studies have quantified the downstream effects of road–stream connectivity on sediment or solute budgets and channel morphology. In this study, we evaluated traditional and newly developed connectivity metrics that utilized features of landscape position and delivery pathway to characterize road–stream connectivity in upland settings. Using data on stream geomorphic conditions developed by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (Montpelier, VT), we related road connectivity metrics to channel condition on a set of 101 forested, upland streams with minimal development other than predominantly gravel road networks. Logistic regression indicated that measures of road density, proximity and orientation successfully distinguished among categories of stream geomorphic condition at multiple geographic scales. Discriminant function analysis using a set of inherent channel characteristics combined with road connectivity metrics derived at the reach corridor scale successfully distinguished channel condition for over 70% of the channels evaluated. This research contributes to efforts to evaluate the cumulative downstream effects of roads on stream channels and aquatic resources and provides a new means of watershed assessment to derive metrics that can be used to predict channel condition. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Width control on event-scale deposition and evacuation of sediment in bedrock-confined channels

In mixed bedrock–alluvial rivers, the response of the system to a flood event can be affected by a number of factors, including coarse sediment availability in the channel, sediment supply from the hillslopes and upstream, flood sequencing and coarse sediment grain size distribution. However, the impact of along-stream changes in channel width on bedload transport dynamics remains largely unexplored. We combine field data, theory and numerical modelling to address this gap. First, we present observations from the Daan River gorge in western Taiwan, where the river flows through a 1 km long 20–50 m wide bedrock gorge bounded upstream and downstream by wide braidplains. We documented two flood events during which coarse sediment evacuation and redeposition appear to cause changes of up to several metres in channel bed elevation. Motivated by this case study, we examined the relationships between discharge, channel width and bedload transport capacity, and show that for a given slope narrow channels transport bedload more efficiently than wide ones at low discharges, whereas wider channels are more efficient at high discharges. We used the model sedFlow to explore this effect, running a random sequence of floods through a channel with a narrow gorge section bounded upstream and downstream by wider reaches. Channel response to imposed floods is complex, as high and low discharges drive different spatial patterns of erosion and deposition, and the channel may experience both of these regimes during the peak and recession periods of each flood. Our modelling suggests that width differences alone can drive substantial variations in sediment flux and bed response, without the need for variations in sediment supply or mobility. The fluctuations in sediment transport rates that result from width variations can lead to intermittent bed exposure, driving incision in different segments of the channel during different portions of the hydrograph. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Accretion disc outbursts: a new version of an old model

We have developed 1D time-dependent numerical models of accretion discs, using an adaptive grid technique and an implicit numerical scheme, in which the disc size is allowed to vary with time. The code fully resolves the cooling and heating fronts propagating in the disc. We show that models in which the radius of the outer edge of the disc is fixed produce incorrect results, from which probably incorrect conclusions about the viscosity law have been inferred. In particular we show that outside-in outbursts are possible when a standard bimodal behaviour of the Shakura–Sunyaev viscosity parameter α is used. We also discuss to what extent insufficient grid resolution has limited the predictive power of previous models. We find that the global properties (magnitudes, etc.) of transient discs can be addressed by codes using a high, but reasonable, number of fixed grid points. However, the study of the detailed physical properties of the transition fronts generally requires resolutions which are out of reach of fixed grid codes. It appears that most time-dependent models of accretion discs published in the literature have been limited by resolution effects, improper outer boundary conditions, or both.     

The prehistoric and preindustrial deforestation of Europe

Humans have transformed Europe's landscapes since the establishment of the first agricultural societies in the mid-Holocene. The most important anthropogenic alteration of the natural environment was the clearing of forests to establish cropland and pasture, and the exploitation of forests for fuel wood and construction materials. While the archaeological and paleoecological record documents the time history of anthropogenic deforestation at numerous individual sites, to study the effect that prehistoric and preindustrial deforestation had on continental-scale carbon and water cycles we require spatially explicit maps of changing forest cover through time. Previous attempts to map preindustrial anthropogenic land use and land cover change addressed only the recent past, or relied on simplistic extrapolations of present day land use patterns to past conditions. In this study we created a very high resolution, annually resolved time series of anthropogenic deforestation in Europe over the past three millennia by 1) digitizing and synthesizing a database of population history for Europe and surrounding areas, 2) developing a model to simulate anthropogenic deforestation based on population density that handles technological progress, and 3) applying the database and model to a gridded dataset of land suitability for agriculture and pasture to simulate spatial and temporal trends in anthropogenic deforestation. Our model results provide reasonable estimations of deforestation in Europe when compared to historical accounts. We simulate extensive European deforestation at 1000 BC, implying that past attempts to quantify anthropogenic perturbation of the Holocene carbon cycle may have greatly underestimated early human impact on the climate system.     

Scenarios for Community-based Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation: a case study from the Wet Tropics,Queensland, Australia

Natural resource management approaches that deliver biodiversity conservation remain elusive, with evidence of a persistent implementation gap between biodiversity science and conservation projects. Scenarios have been identified as potentially useful in addressing the complex issues underlying this implementation gap, but have been infrequently applied to biodiversity conservation. Our paper reports on action co-research to develop, apply and assess the efficacy of scenarios within a community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) approach to biodiversity conservation at Mission Beach, a key site within the globally significant Wet Tropics bioregion. We focused on the capacity of scenarios to address the issues of contested interests and uncertainty, aiming specifically to engage the community to build a cohesive vision. The scenarios' headline messages included a projected substantial loss of habitat in coastal vegetation communities that are highly valued by all stakeholders. Our assessment identified that the use of scenarios fulfilled the intended aims, resulting in a vision for biodiversity conservation that has substantial community support. Three factors contributed to this efficacy of the scenarios: (1) the focus on threat; (2) biodiversity science integration; and (3) simplicity in presentation. Further investigation of the potential of scenarios as tools to overcome the implementation gap in biodiversity conservation is recommended.     

Impacts of stormwater runoff in the Southern California Bight: Relationships among plume constituents

The effects from two winter rain storms on the coastal ocean of the Southern California Bight were examined as part of the Bight ‘03 program during February 2004 and February–March 2005. The impacts of stormwater from fecal indicator bacteria, water column toxicity, and nutrients were evaluated for five major river discharges: the Santa Clara River, Ballona Creek, the San Pedro Shelf (including the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers), the San Diego River, and the Tijuana River. Exceedances of bacterial standards were observed in most of the systems. However, the areas of impact were generally spatially limited, and contaminant concentrations decreased below California Ocean Plan standards typically within 2–3 days. The largest bacterial concentrations occurred in the Tijuana River system where exceedances of fecal indicator bacteria were noted well away from the river mouth. Maximum nitrate concentrations (~40 μM) occurred in the San Pedro Shelf region near the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Based on the results of general linear models, individual sources of stormwater differ in both nutrient concentrations and the concentration and composition of fecal indicator bacteria. While nutrients appeared to decrease in plume waters due to simple mixing and dilution, the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria in plumes depends on more than loading and dilution rates. The relationships between contaminants (nutrients and fecal indicator bacteria) and plume indicators (salinity and total suspended solids) were not strong indicating the presence of other potentially important sources and/or sinks of both nutrients and fecal indicator bacteria. California Ocean Plan standards were often exceeded in waters containing greater than 10% stormwater (<28–30 salinity range). The median concentration dropped below the standard in the 32–33 salinity range (1–4% stormwater) for total coliforms and Enterococcus spp. and in the 28–30 salinity range (10–16% stormwater) for fecal coliforms. Nutrients showed a similar pattern with the highest median concentrations in water with greater than 10% stormwater. Relationships between colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and salinity and between total suspended solids and beam attenuation indicate that readily measurable, optically active variables can be used as proxies to provide at least a qualitative, if not quantitative, evaluation of the distribution of the dissolved, as well as the particulate, components of stormwater plumes. In this context, both CDOM absorption and the beam attenuation coefficient can be derived from satellite ocean color measurements of inherent optical properties suggesting that remote sensing of ocean color should be useful in mapping the spatial areas and durations of impacts from these contaminants.     

Characterization of Turkish coals: a nationwide perspective

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Turkish General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Müdürlügü, MTA) are working together to provide a better understanding of the chemical properties of Turkish coals from major Turkish lignite producing areas.The coals in Turkey are generally low rank (lignite or subbituminous) formed in several different depositional environments at different geologic times and have differing chemical properties. Eocene coals are limited to northern Turkey; Oligocene coals, found in the Thrace Basins of northwestern Turkey, are intercalated with marine sediments; Miocene coals are generally located in Western Turkey. The coal deposits, which have limnic characteristics, have relatively abundant reserves. Pliocene–Pleistocene coals are found in the eastern part of Turkey. Most of these coals have low calorific values, high moisture, and high ash contents.Analysis of 143 coal channel samples (most are lignite and subbituminous in rank, but a few are bituminous and one is anthracitic in rank) has been completed for up to 54 elements and other coal properties using a variety of analytical techniques, including inductively coupled plasma emission and mass spectrometry, instrumental neutron activation analysis, and various single element techniques and ASTM standard procedures. Many of these coals have elemental concentrations similar to U.S. lignites found in the Gulf Coast and Fort Union regions. However, maximum or mean concentrations of B, Cr, Cs, Ni, As, Br, Sb, Cs, and U in Turkey are higher than the corresponding maximum or mean values found in either the Fort Union or Gulf Coast regions.     

Effects of toxicants on developing oocytes and embryos of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus

Oocytes (90 μm in diameter) were isolated from ovaries of 14-day post-molt adult female crabs and maintained in culture media. The addition of cadmium (20 μg/ liter) or tributyltin (2 μg/liter) to developing oocytes resulted in decreases in the growth of oocytes as measured by protein and lipovitellin accumulation relative to controls. Crab embryos isolated from yellow ‘sponge’ of female blue crabs were maintained in seawater until hatching (6–8 days). Toxicants tested included cadmium, copper, tributyltin and endosulfan. Some of the processes or events which were followed included water uptake, lipovitellin utilization rate, formation of appendages, formation of a heart, formation of eyespots and hatching to zoea stage. The primary effects from addition of toxicants were deformed eyespots and reduced hatching success. The hatching EC₅₀ (concentration at which 50% of embryos failed to hatch) for copper, cadmium, tributyltin and endosulfan were 3.1, 0.25, 0.047 and 450 μg/liter, respectively. Crab embryos appear to be suitable for testing of the effects of a variety of toxicants with advantages including low cost, reproducibility, low variability and sensitivity.